Time and Again
by Sanctuary4All
Summary: Nikola-centric story. After a new deadly abnormal is found, Nikola is forced to travel back in time to stop it, but will that be enough?
1. Chapter 1

"Nikola Tesla!" Helen's voice bellowed.

"Already," Nikola muttered wincing as he stopped in his tracks and reluctantly turned to face the fuming woman striding purposely towards him, "how wonderful! You're back, how was your flight Helen? Did you get the abnormal you were looking for?"

"Don't change the subject!" she snapped glaring at him as she finally reached him, "you know perfectly well what this is about and why I am yelling at you!"

"No," he lied.

"You set fire to my lab!" Helen shouted.

"Oh that," he said waving if off, "who told you about that?"

"Big Guy," she informed him bluntly, "you really thought you could keep something like this from me?"

"Well it wasn't a big fire or anything," he shrugged it off, "no one got hurt, what's the big deal?"

"They very easily could have and do you know how much some of that machinery cost?" Helen demanded, "I have to pay to replace the things that you destroy, I'm not leeching off anyone like you are."

"I'm not leeching off you, I'm helping," he protested, "I do a lot of stuff around here."

"You only help out so that I will let you stay," she pointed out angrily, "and you only want to stay because you want to use the technology I have to try regain your vampiric powers."

"Regaining my powers is important to me," he told her firmly.

"The sun doesn't revolve around you!" she yelled, "you don't care what you do to jeopardize my Sanctuary, my people, my patients as long as you get what you want. You're a selfish, arrogant bastard Nikola!"

"That is entirely unfair," he complained.

"And after you promised not to do anything like this while I was gone!" she yelled before forcing a sign and continuing in a mellower tone, "what is the point in yelling at you? You don't listen, you don't even care."

"Of course I car-" he began but she turned and started walking away, "where are you going?"

"To clean up your mess!" she called back.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"No you're not," she pointed out sadly turning back to him.

"I swear I thought it work this time," he explained, "I am so close to getting my powers back, I just couldn't wait."

"Nikola..." she said quietly and seemed to really think before continuing, "maybe its better if you just left. Go back to wherever the hell you were before and work on getting your powers there, since obviously that's all you care about."

"That is not true," he protested, "don't you think you're overreacting, slightly? It was one fire and I was trying to replace the things I ruined anyway so you wouldn't even know- wait that came out wrong!"

"Just once," Helen sighed, "just for one time Nikola, I wish that you would, that you could care about something other than yourself. Just once."

"Helen-"

"I have to go see to the new arrival," she interrupted and continued away, "we'll talk later."

"I really am sorry," he muttered when she was gone, "really."

Nikola sighed heavily before angrily slamming his fist against the wall and silently cursing the treacherous Sasquatch, now he looked like even more of a jerk as he had honestly been trying to replace the equipment before she got back. Sighing again he leaned back against the wall, now not only had he lost his vampirism, he'd lost Helen's trust. Again. He was slightly offended by her accusations that he was selfish, he didn't think he was that bad. He was distracted from his thoughts for a moment by a dark blur that sped across the wall to then vanish, he blinked a few times and raised a questioning eyebrow but nothing else happened.

"I need a drink," he announced shaking his head and walking away.

* * *

><p>"So how's our new arrival?" Helen asked trying to put Nikola out of her mind as she strode into the room where Henry and Will were exchanging confused glances.<p>

"Well... You see... Doc... It kinda... errr..." Henry babbled nervously.

"It's dead," Will told her.

"Dead?" she repeated raising a confused eyebrow.

"I swear it wasn't out fault!" Henry protested desperately, "we did everything right, gave it food and water like you said but it didn't even touch them. It was acting kinda weird and we were just going to get you when the thing dropped dead, like right in front of us before we could do anything."

"That's... slightly unusual," Helen muttered feeling puzzled, "it seemed find during transport."

"We did try and save it but it was no use," Henry continued still looking anxious, "you're not mad are you?"

"I'm not mad Henry," she informed him with a reassuring smile, "its just unusual, hyphodons don't usually get sick and this one was far too young to die of old age. Did you notice anything odd about the hyphodon? Any injuries or marks on its body or something that I failed to notice?"

"No," Will answered before seeming to think of something, "its radiation level was quite high, safe but high."

"Interesting," she mumbled trying to think of a logical explanation.

"Interesting? Hope you guys are having more fun than me," Kate complained entering the room, "had to clean up that damn things puke."

"What puke?" Will asked, "the hyphodon didn't puke."

"Yes it did," Kate said firmly.

"It did not," Will affirmed.

"I think we would have noticed something like that," Henry pointed out.

"It did," Kate protested, "take it from someone who just had to clean all of the green goop from the van."

"There wasn't any green goop in the van," Will retorted.

"Yes there was!" Kate argued forcefully.

"Both of you stop this," Helen intervened, "Will and Henry are right, the hyphodon never vomited but that doesn't mean this green stuff Kate cleaned up wasn't from something else we brought back, it very well could have come from an artifact. Its not uncommon for small abnormals or even animals to make themselves at home in these things, remain unnoticed for the journey and slip out upon arrival back here and most likely the journey made it nauseous so when it came out it threw up. Mystery solved."

"Look what I found!" Big Guy announced as he joined them with an abnormal in his hands.

It wasn't something Helen recognized, it was about the size of a nubbin and had a greenish hue to its skin not unlike many reptiles but with very large eyes. It had miniscule feet peeking out from under its body and long arms that were wrapped protectively around itself, it tilted its head innocently to once side as it studied her intently, a few teeth showing as it smiled but she couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was not right with it.

"And there solves the case of the mysterious green goop," Henry announced brightly, "isn't that thing adorable?"

"What is it?" Will questioned.

"I have no idea," Helen whispered curiously, "no idea at all."


	2. Chapter 2

"Want me to go put it in an enclosure?" Big Guy offered helpfully.

"Yes and make sure its a secure one, I've never encountered or even heard of this abnormal before," Helen explained cautiously, still unable to shake the feeling of unease from being around the abnormal.

"You guys don't need me do you?" Kate asked drawing attention back to her, "I'm gonna go lie down for awhile, think I'm coming down with something."

"Fine," Helen agreed as Kate coughed slightly, "want me to check you out?"

"It's just the flu or something," Kate shrugged it off, "catch you guys later."

"So what do you want to do know?" Will asked of Helen as Kate left, "autopsy the hyphodon?"

"No I want to run some tests on our new mystery abnormal first," she explained, "don't you think there's something odd about that abnormal?"

"Err..." Henry muttered as he and Will exchanged confused looks, "not really, no."

"Nope," Will agreed, "seems like your usual run of the mill abnormal that drops into our laps, just like every day. Why?"

"I don't know," she answered frowning, "it's just... nevermind."

* * *

><p>Nikola downed the last of his glass and held his hand in front of him willing the claws to grow, by now he knew it wouldn't happen but he couldn't stop himself from trying despite how depressing it was when he failed to shit into his vampire form. He couldn't understand why Helen didn't think it was important, he felt incomplete without his vampiric powers, like he was missing a part of who he was and it frustrated him to no end that she or anyone didn't comprehend just how bad that felt.<p>

Sighing he wondered how he was going to get back into Helen's good books and reached for the Bordeaux to pour himself another glass, only to find that it was empty. He muttered a few choice curses and reluctantly stood to go retrieve more from the wine cellar, he passed a sickly looking Kate in the corridor before finding his destination.

"What in the world...?" he muttered frowning in confusion as he saw pools of green sludge staining the stone.

Raising a bewildered eyebrow he cautiously continued down the steps and if he didn't know better he would have sworn that the goo hissed at him, tenuously he poked one of the pools with his foot. To his amazement the goo instantly retreated back, all of it started sliding across the room and converging in the middle. He could only gape as goo rose up in a lump and began solidifying into a new form, that akin to an alligator in shape but green all over with huge unblinking eyes staring intently at him. Nikola backed up the steps slowly as it opened its mouth which was oddly devoid of a tongue and looked difficult to open with the goo still forming bonds between the mouth, regardless he bolted the second it took a step forward.

The thing roared and with surprising speed launched at him, Nikola slammed the door shut behind him and continued running as it roared loudly and bounded after him. Breathless he came to the main corridor and using his magnetic powers pulled down one of the metal safety doors that lined the place, it came crashing down on the creature and completely severed its head much to Nikola's relief despite the confusing fact that only more goo not blood spattered onto the floor.

He had a moment of premature relief before the goo began oozing from underneath the door and faster than before reunited with its head, only this time it was bigger. It tilted its head to one side and let a new green tongue fall from its mouth with sharpened green teeth also adding to a demented excuse for a smile. Nikola ran, slamming shut the emergency doors behind him in a desperate attempt to slow the creature down but he dared not look back to see if it was any use, he didn't even stop running until he ran into someone. Frantically he scrambled to his feet but saw no green goo oozing from underneath the door, he let out a relieved breath as Big Guy slapped him forcefully.

"What the hell are you doing Tesla?" Big Guy complained glaring at the ex-vampire, "Magnus is mad enough without you running around crazily and shutting all of the emergency doors."

"No!" Nikola complained panting for breath, "there's-there's this... creature chas-chasing me..."

"What did you do?" Big Guy sighed.

"I didn't... I didn't do anything!" Nikola protested, "and thanks for ratting me out to Helen by the way."

"She told you not to do anything while she was gone," Big Guy explained as if it were simple, "and then you set fire to the lab."

"Where is she?" Nikolas asked, "I need to go warn her about this creature."

"What creature?" Big Guy wondered.

"The one chasing me!" Nikola yelled, "are you not listening to me?"

"There's nothing chasing you," Big Guy said disbelieving.

"Yes there is," Nikola told him firmly, "its big and green and just got bigger when I cut off its head, its made up of some kind of goo that it uses to regenerate itself."

"Okay..." Big Guy offered before laughing.

"I'm serious," Nikola protested, "that thing is dangerous."

"Really?" Big Guy wondered sarcastically, "show me."

"What?" Nikola repeated.

"Open the door, " Big Guy told him, "prove it and I'll tell you where Magus is."

"This is ridiculous," Nikola moaned frustratedly, "if one of the children said this then you would believe them."

"I trust them, I don't trust you," Big Guy pointed out.

"This isn't a good idea," Nikola said anxiously.

"Goodbye then," Big Guy offered waving and turning to leave, "I have to go check on the new guy."

"Fine," Nikola agreed, "but get ready to run."

With that he reluctantly raised the door only to find that the creature was gone, there were puddles of the goo but no sign of the creature they created. Big Guy's laughter grated on his ears as he waved open all of the emergency doors to find exactly the same thing, no limbs or anything only the green goo.

"What the hell is going on," Nikola demanded of no one in particular.

"You were scared of green slop," Big Guy pointed out still finding it funny, "genius."


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks so much to big fan, melissaadams22 and lastrequest for reviewing! The time traveling comes a bit later btw_

* * *

><p>"Helen?" Nikola questioned peering inside the room to see her looking into a microscope, "finally I found you, this place is pretty huge you know."<p>

"I'm still mad at you, go away," Helen told him firmly.

"This is serious, there is a deadly abnormal loose that we kind of need to deal with," Nikola explained desperately.

"I really don't have time to deal with you right now," Helen retorted, "leave me alone."

"I get that you're mad at me but this is actually important," he protested.

"Big Guy already told me about your imaginary monster," she informed him briskly, "I have bigger concerns right now than you."

"It wasn't imaginary," he told her frustratedly, "this is an actual dangerous abnormal that I have never come across before."

"I don't care Nikola," Helen snapped, "for the last time, go away."

"I said I was sorry!" he exclaimed.

"And I said go away," she retorted giving him a frosty stare.

"Fine," he muttered, "I'll just go stop it myself."

"Then go," Helen told him as he angrily stalked away passing Will entering.

"What's up with him?" Will asked curiously.

"Nothing," she snapped returning her attention to the microscope.

"Did you two have a fight or something?" he inquired and she shot him a dark look.

"Did you actually want something?" she questioned to change the subject.

"Yeah some, a lot of the residents have been complaining about this gross green goo that's lying around," Will explained frowning, "think its anything to do with the so-called vomit Kate cleaned up? And our new mystery abnormal?"

"Quite possibly," she agreed scowling, "the question is if the abnormal has been in isolation how did it manage to secrete anything around my Sanctuary?"

"Maybe there was more than one," Will guessed.

"Or Nikola's imaginary abnormal wasn't so imaginary," she added worriedly, "come on, show me this goo. I'd like to examine it myself."

* * *

><p>Henry wrinkled his nose in disgust at the oddly irritating scent as he exited the elevator, to his surprise the usually clean Sanctuary was covered in puddles of green with some of it even splashed onto the walls which was where the offensive smell was coming from. He scowled wondering which abnormal had thrown up, if it was vomit which he presumed not knowing what else it would be. He carefully avoided stepping on any of it especially when it bubbled slightly as he passed and continued on into his lab, thankfully there was no goo there but there was Nikola Tesla.<p>

"Dude, what are you doing here?" Henry demanded nearly dropping the computer tablet he was holding.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he retorted shooting him a dark look and resuming working on some kind of gun shaped object, "I'm building a weapon to stop that goo abnormal."

"Well not in my lab!" Henry exclaimed trying to shoo him away.

"Why not?" Tesla asked innocently.

"Because I don't want you to burn down my lab too," Henry complained checking for any sign of fire.

"I didn't burn down her lab, it was one itsy bitsy fire," he pointed out to which Henry raised an eyebrow as he put down the computer tablet.

"Then why not work there?" Henry questioned.

"Maybe I just wanted a change of scenery," Tesla said shrugging and moving aimlessly away from the workbench, "there's lots of cool things here, like over there. That's the stuff you brought back form Hollow Earth?"

"Err... yeah," Henry answered hesitantly as the ex vampire moved over and began examining them, "don't touch them."

"Impressive," Tesla mused, "which one's Adam's time device?"

"I said don't touch them," Henry repeated firmly taking the box away from him, "now what are you actually doing?"

"Building a freeze ray device," Tesla told him as if it were obvious, "should stop the goo creature right in its tracks."

"Okay a hint for future reference," Henry informed him, "if you want people to believe you then think of a better name than 'goo creature' and also someone probably would have noticed a goo creature running around."

"I noticed," Tesla pointed out sharply.

"I meant someone who isn't... you know, you," Henry explained.

"Kids these days, must I prove everything by camera footage?" Tesla moaned snatching up the tablet and fiddling with it for a moment before handing it back to him with a stream of the video footage from earlier, "believe me now?"

"Oh crap," Henry muttered, "Magnus needs to see this."

* * *

><p>"Here we are," Will announced as he led them to the goo covered corridor, "although there is actually more of it then I remember, there wasn't any on the walls a few minutes ago."<p>

"Curious," Helen mused kneeling down beside the closest pool to take a sample where much to her confusion the goo hissed loudly, "that's not something you see every day."

"Did the goo just hiss at you?" Will questioned frowning as he knelt down beside her.

"I think so, it sounded almost like it's alive," Helen pondered scowling as she reached out her hand to touch it.

"Don't touch it!" Henry's voice screamed and they glanced back too late to see him running towards them.

Immediately a hand shot out from the goo and grabbed hold of her arm with an immensely strong vice like grip, all around them the goo began bubbling and shapes began emerging. She tugged her arm to try get away from the creature but it held fast as it rose in a humanoid like form with unnerving eyes that were identical to the mysterious creature discovered earlier.

"That is so not good!" Henry yelled reaching them and glancing around worriedly as the trio were pretty much surrounded, he tried to help pry her arm from the creature but the substance was surprisingly solid as well as slippery and he failed to even get a grip on it.

"Try this," Will offered grabbing a decorative sword hanging on the wall and swung it around beheading the nearest few creatures and proceeding to sever its arm.

A short lived spell of relief struck them before they noticed that instantaneously the heads began regrowing and from the heads grew more bodies, a new arm began regrowing while the old one stayed firmly clamped onto Helen's wrist but at least didn't start growing another body. All around them more and more were continuing to sprout from the goo.

"I do hate it when Nikola's right," Helen complained.

"We should run," Will pointed out.


	4. Chapter 4

_Kinda depressing chapter this, you have been warned! And thanks to melissaadams and big fan for reviewing :)_

* * *

><p>Big Guy made his way cautiously up the corridor carrying the tray which held the soup and cup of hot cocoa that he had prepared for Kate, he tried to ignore the unusual scent emitting form the piles of green goo spattered everywhere which he was carefully avoiding. Much to his annoyance he assumed some abnormal had been sick and he would now have the unfortunate job of cleaning it up, shaking his head he suppressed a cough and wondered if he was coming down with something too.<p>

He finally made it to Kate's door and cleared his throat before rapping politely on the door to get her attention but was greeted only by silence, he proceeded to pound loudly on the door which always worked to get her out of bed but she still didn't answer or say anything to indicate she had heard him.

"Kate! Open up its me," he called out, "I've brought you something to eat and drink, I know its not pizza but that's what you get for being ill."

Nothing.

"Are you alright?" he questioned becoming concerned, "should I get Magnus? Kate? Can you hear me?"

There was still no answer, feeling unusably apprehensive he decided to risk upsetting her and simply open the door, thankfully it was unlocked and he moved into her bedchamber to find yet more puddles of the green glop which he thought was even stranger than usual and he had seen some pretty strange stuff in the 60 years he'd been living there. He saw Kate lying on her bed facing away from the door, instantly he felt nervous as he put down the tray and moved over to her. She looked like she had simply lay down on the bed, she was still fully dressed but seemed unnaturally still.

"Kate?" he said her name again worriedly kneeling in front of her.

Not even her eyelids flickered, they remained firmly closed and set into her unhealthily ashen skin. He found himself swallowing nervously as he put a hand to her forehead, her skin was so cold like that of a corpse. A wave of panic hit him as he reached out two fingers to her neck to search for a pulse, he was expecting, hoping for even a weak thready beat but there was nothing. She was a corpse.

* * *

><p>The three of them down up the corridor, Helen frantically trying to shake the remaining goo from her with very little success and even the clumps that did fall off immediately began forming into a creature as well. Henry tried hitting it with stunners but they had no effect much like when Will shot at it with bullets, nothing worked and she was becoming increasing worried about the safety of her Sanctuary and the people inside it as well as for their own lives as the mass of goo creatures relentlessly pursued them.<p>

They rounded a bend and she took the opportunity to flip open the bust of Shakespeare and press the button securing the emergency door which crashed down on a few of the creatures spattering green in place of blood or internal organs. Immediately the goo began reforming and more oozing beneath the doorway.

"Being eaten alive by a giant glob of gloop was not exactly how I envisioned my death," Henry offered breathlessly.

"Any ideas?" Will asked.

"I have one," Nikola greeted them sauntering into view with a smirk and some kind of gun in his hand as they turned to face him, "next time I'm trying to tell you something, you damned well better listen."

"Now is really not the time to gloat," Helen pointed out still feeling irritated.

"Hopefully this device should freeze the creature in its tracks," Nikola explained motioning to the weapon, "but bear in my mind I've had less than an hour to work on it so its not really my best work."

"Would you just shoot that thing?" Will snapped.

"So you believe me now?" Nikola wondered smugly as the ooze began pushing the door open.

"Nikola!" they yelled in unison as a fresh wave of creatures launched at them.

They barely had time to duck and cover their heads as Nikola effortlessly pulled the trigger shooting out a glowing white ball which upon contact with the goo turned to ice and rapidly spread its tendrils across the goo until they were all frozen in place, all in a mere few seconds. Nikola smiled triumphantly as he swung the weapon over his shoulder while they gaped at what was now a wave shaped wall of icy creatures, mouths open in snarls revealing the rows of sharp teeth now all completely frozen.

"Genius, remember?" Nikola told them looking immensely pleased with himself, "I think I should have Bordeaux to celebrate, anyone care to join me?"

"Now is really not the time," Helen complained, "honestly Nikola, who knows how many abnormals have potentially been killed already by this thing? We need to lock this place down until we can find out the extent of the damage, that is if none of it has escaped and already started causing chaos out there, I need to run some tests on it immediately to see if had anything to do with the hyphodon's death as well as looking at the abnormal Biggie found because I am almost 100% it is the same or at least linked to these goo things. There is nothing to celebrate."

"I said I was sorry," Nikola offered and she merely sighed in frustration at his inability to grasp the situation, "what?"

* * *

><p>Big Guy stopped giving her the chest compressions and stood up sadly, struggling to grasp that she was really gone but he had been giving her CPR for the better part of half an hour if he had to guess and she hadn't shown any sign of life or recovery. In a way he felt like he had failed her, not being able to revive her or even noticing how seriously ill she was. The suddenness of it was what was really bothering him, almost like a slap in the face from the cold harsh reality and he didn't even know why Kate was lying dead before him. Even for a human she had succumbed to sickness very quickly.<p>

He moved away wearily trying to mentally prepare himself for the soul sucking task of having to tell the others that one of their, what he considered "family" was dead. As he turned towards the doorway he coughed violently enough to take him to his knees, it dawned on him that he might very well be sick with whatever had killed Kate. Feeling dizzy he staggered back to his feet and gazed down at the goo, he could swear there was more of it than there had been before especially as some of it was now decorating the walls and furniture.

Tesla's claim of the goo attacking him came to the forefront of his mind as he tried to tiptoe around the massive puddles, abruptly the goo moved. All at once it began sliding across the floor and onto Kate's bed where it enveloped her body completely, it hissed and before his eyes the outline of her body began to melt into the goo. In a matter of seconds it was over and oozed off her now empty bed, his jaw literally dropped as the goo now began forming into some kind of creature, frantically he made his way to the door but the corridor was now full of the goo creatures which eery gaping eyes exactly alike the abnormal he had found earlier.

In a single moment he realized that even if he tried he wasn't going to make it past them, he was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. He glanced to his right and saw Kate's radio which he hurriedly picked up, if nothing else he knew he had to at the very least warn Magnus.

"Do you read me?" he asked hoping she or at least someone would answer, preferably not Tesla.

"Yes, what's the problem?" Helen's calm assured voice came in over the line much to his relief.

"Tesla's creature wasn't imaginary," he blurted out quickly, "there's loads of goo and its turning into creatures."

"I know, Nikola's built a weapon to deal with it," she explained, "just try and run to safety."

"Helen," he began forcing himself to continue as the goo creatures advanced around him, "Kate is dead, probably some kind of sickness killed her. CPR didn't work."

"What?" Helen's shocked voice exclaimed.

"I'm in her room. Don't come this way," he added quickly, "the goo eats or dissolves people's bodies. I'm next... Its been an honor to work alongside you Helen, I-"

She heard a guttural scream of pain across the radio and then it was silent. Deathly silent.


	5. Chapter 5

_Another depressing chapter this, you have been warned again! And thanks to melissaadams for reviewing :)_

* * *

><p>"Do you think it would have spread to the higher levels?" Will questioned of Nikola as they made their way through the corridors blasting the puddles of goo or the half formed creatures with his freeze ray gun.<p>

"How am I supposed to know?" Nikola snapped back in reply as he blasted the last puddle in the corridor, "I don't even know how it got onto this one."

"I was wondering about checking the other levels or the rooms on this level?" Will asked.

"And I was wondering why you're even here when I am perfectly capable of zapping these things myself," Nikola retorted growing weary of the protege.

"A second pair of eyes is always useful," Will announced defensively, "besides you're not the most trustworthy of people."

"I think we should probably check the upper levels as well," Nikola told him, "the only reason its probably not already running around crazily killing people is that it wanted to explore its new territory first and if its exploring then I doubt it stuck to one floor. And for the record I am trustworthy."

"So Professor Hidden Agenda-" Will began purposely before breaking into a fit of coughing.

"Can you try not to cough around me," Nikola complained, "mortals are gross."

"Would it kill you to lay off the insults for one second?" Will moaned tiredly turning to face him, "its bad enough I'm stuck with y- Tesla behind you!"

At his abrupt change of tone, Nikola immediately glanced behind him to see a goo creature leaping at him. Automatically he pulled the trigger and flinched at the brightness before the ice took effect and it froze in place, its enormous jaw with almost daggers for teeth mere inches from his face. He swallowed despite himself and backed away as he ran a hand across the smooth texture enveloping it, almost like glass save it was cooler to the touch.

"That's why I'm here," Will pointed out.

"You suck as a second pair of eyes, clearly we missed one on this corridor," Nikola mused thoughtfully still gliding his hand across the creature before he found something unusual, "or maybe not."

"What?" Will wondered aloud.

"There's a crack," Nikola whispered tracing the line as it grew in length before he jumped back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Will demanded but the answer was self explanatory as the creature broke free of the ice, Nikola quickly fired again and it froze again, "why did that just happen?"

"If I had to guess..." Nikola trailed off as the cracks shot through it and it broke free again, he fired again and it re froze but already began breaking free and a quick glance around saw the others doing the same.

"Guess!" Will yelled as they backed away, Nikola shot them a few times but it had no effect so instead he simply used his power to slam shut the emergency door.

"They're adapting, becoming immune to the cold to the point that it no longer effects them," Nikola explained as they continued backing away from the goo now oozing out from under the door.

"Damn," Will muttered coughing again, "we should get back to Magnus fast... except she and Henry are back the way we came."

"In a second I'm going to open that door," Nikola announced as calmly as he could, "we are going to run back like a bat out of hell, I'll slam down the emergency doors behind us. I won't stop them but it should slow them down enough for us to get through."

"That's crazy," Will pointed out.

"Do you have a better idea?" Nikola asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"No," Will admitted reluctantly.

"Then on the count of 3," Nikola said firmly, "1, 2, 3!"

* * *

><p>"Hello?" Helen questioned worriedly into the radio, "hello? Biggie? Can you hear me? Dammit!"<p>

She threw down the radio angrily and let her head fall into her hands, the apparent death of her friends cut deeply and while she wanted nothing more than to curl up and cry for their loss she couldn't. The situation was far worse than she had originally thought and she had to deal with it, she knew she had to mourn later.

"Don't worry doc, this place is now locked down tighter than a drum," Henry announced brightly returning, "are you okay?"

"Kate and Biggie are dead," she told him bluntly watching as his face turned from relative joy to devastation, "I'm sorry, I should have told you to sit first."

"How?" Henry asked tearfully sinking onto a stool.

"Kate from some apparent sickness, Big Guy from the goo," she informed him sadly.

"I can't believe it," Henry gasped blinking away tears.

"I know," she whispered placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, the moment was promptly ruined by Nikola and Will bursting into the room and slamming shut the door behind him, she raised a questioning eyebrow at them as they leaned back against the glass to catch their breaths, "explanation please? I am really not in the mood."

"Its become immune to the freezing," Nikola blurted out.

"Its everywhere Magnus," Will added before coughing, "there's just more and more of that stuff, we need a... we need..." he trailed off into a fit of coughing before continuing, "we need a plan and fast."

"Its worse than that," Helen told them solemnly, "the goo creature emits a type of radiation I've not come across before, anyone who's come into contact with it or been near would have been effected. It's what killed the hyphodon and I believe its what killed Kate."

"Kate is dead?" Will gasped gaping at them in shock.

"And Biggie," Henry muttered wiping his eyes, "him and Kate are both dead."

"Are any of us infected with this radiation?" Nikola asked worriedly.

"Henry and I, I haven't tested yours or Will's blood yet but I suspect you both are too," she explained, "I tested the air, its all around us."

"How long...?" Will started to ask but broke off coughing violently again, "how long until..."

"I don't know," Helen answered not waiting for him to finish the question, "judging by how fast the hyphodon and... Kate died, it looks like it varies. From person to person, abnormal to abnormal... I don't think we have long though, we need to warn the other Sanctuaries, try and evacuate any non-infected abnormals from here and even call the mayor and start evacuating the city."

"It's that serious?" Will exclaimed coughing again while Henry picked up his tablet and began using it.

"Judging by your coughing I'm guessing that humans probably die faster," Nikola mused earning a dark look from Helen, "its not my fault we're all dying, in fact I tried to warn you-"

"Now really is not the time to bring that up," Helen interrupted, "I'm going to go contact the other Heads of House and warn them about what's happening, you need to try and build an effective weapon against it. The sample I tried didn't react to any temperature changes, any potentially fatal drugs or the like. Will if you're up to it try and contact the mayor and get him to begin evacuations, Henry try and work on a way to get to the residents."

"Helen you don't get it," Nikola sighed, "you can't go out there, Will and I barely made it through and that was with me constantly closing the emergency doors to slow them down. The Atox is fast."

"The what?" Will questioned weakly, "the Atox? Where the hell did you get that from?"

"Latin," Nikola answered defensively, "we can't keep calling it the goo creature and I'd like to see you think up a better name that corresponds to the-"

"Forget I said anything," Will interjected coughing again with enough force to fall to his knees.

"Doc..." Henry whispered glancing back up form the tablet, "we're the only life signs left in this place. Every abnormal in this Sanctuary is dead."


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks so much to big fan for reviewing :)_

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><p>"All of them?" Nikola wondered breaking the stunned silence.<p>

"All of them," Henry confirmed sounding panicked, "what... what do we do doc?"

"I..." Helen began but trailed off, clearly as shocked as the rest of them, "we're out of time, its too late for us... All we can do now is try and save as many other lives as possible."

"How? We don't... we don't..." Will questioned before breaking into a fit of coughing again and seemed to have given up on getting to his feet,"have any way to stop this thing."

"We warn the other Sanctuaries and begin evacuations of this city," she announced sounding determined, "its the best we can hope for."

"We die fighting then right?" Henry said with a forced smile.

"Yes," Helen confirmed smiling sadly.

"Shouldn't we maybe try and figure out a way to get out of here alive as well?" Nikola pointed out earning a dark look from the others, "what? I just think we're being incredibly defeatist. I'm not saying don't evacuate, I just think we should not give up on our own lives so easily."

"Even if we did make it out of the Sanctuary we are still effected by the radiation," Helen explained sounding frustrated, "we'd still die."

"So what's the plan?" Henry asked before coughing, "I don't think that's a good sign."

"We need to get to the main room," Helen informed them, "from there we can contact the other Sanctuary heads."

"Magnus I can't do that," Will muttered solemnly in between coughs, "I don't think I can even stand right now, let alone run all that way."

"Dude you have to try," Henry pleaded desperately.

"No," Will said firmly, "you guys go on ahead, I'll stay here and call the mayor to begin evacuating the city."

"Will-"

"Every second we waste arguing that thing is getting stronger," Will interrupted her, "I'm sorry, my mind is made up. At least this way I die being useful."

"I'll stay too," Henry offered bravely, "we'll last longer if I stay, we can keep in contact with you two via radio. Besides its better than being stuck with Tesla."

"Hey!" Nikola protested as the other three laughed in what he realized was much needed levity.

"C'mon you know I'm kidding," Henry offered playfully, "you're alright."

"Thanks," Nikola muttered as his gaze was drawn to the stuff from Hollow Earth as an idea dawned on him, "which one was Adam's time device again?"

"We don't have nearly enough power to use it," Helen explained, "nor do we know how to use it or if it even works, so just leave it alone."

"It's this one isn't it?" Nikola guessed attaching the metallic device to his wrist.

"No power source," Will repeated firmly.

"But-"

"I've reopened the emergency doors," Henry interrupted placing down the tablet, "should make it easier for you to slam them shut rather than having to keep opening them, well the ones it hasn't opened itself already anyway."

"Good luck," Will offered with a slight smile as he struggled to his feet with Henry's help.

"Good luck," Helen replied simply as she returned his smile sadly, realizing that it was probably the last time she'd ever see them.

Nikola nodded at them awkwardly, while he did have a grudging respect for Helen's team he wasn't exactly close to them like she was and wasn't quite sure where he fit in. He swallowed nervously before hurriedly opening the door rushing out with Helen who closed it quickly behind them, immediately they were met with the sight of the Atox now not only almost completely covering the floor but the walls and even the ceiling with drops falling down.

"Are you ready?" Helen asked offering her hand for him to take to which he raised a curious eyebrow, "so we have less chance of being separated."

"Okay," he agreed unable to suppress a smile as he took her hand tightly.

He glanced ahead of them again, there was no way they could run even up to the end of the corridor without avoiding making contact with the Atox and still it was oozing outwards and spreading. They exchanged a look indicating she realized this too before simply launching themselves down the corridor without further hesitation, almost instantly it screeched around them and began forming into different shapes but he didn't stop to look at them instead concentrated on running as far and as fast as they could while he slammed closed the emergency doors, one after another creating the echoic crash of metal against stone.

It wasn't slowing them down as much as before, since it was now everywhere all it did was halt the formation for a second or put a wall between them but he had a sinking feeling that it would figure a way around them like it had from being frozen. As they reached the much needed elevator much to their horror it was already filled with the Atox, a massive head, rolling tongue and eyes that bored into you greeted them.

Nikola was prepared and instead of turning away mentally closed the elevator doors, the things head was smashed open with nothing but more green goo for brains that splattered into liquidy lumps of more Atox or even itself, he wasn't sure it was simply one creature. He was incredibly grateful for the fact the elevator was metallic and with a wave of his hand forced it up as far upwards as it could go before turning to a very confused looking Helen.

"We can climb down," he explained breathlessly nodding to the cables the elevator operated on.

"Smart," Helen mused equally breathless.

"I try," he gasped.

He let of her hand as she took a running jump and seemingly effortless reached the cables before starting to climb downwards, he backed away for his own jump before to his horror the Atox lifted up the closed emergency door just as he had feared. He bolted across and leaped into the elevator shaft reaching the cable and mentally closing the emergency door between the elevator and the elevator shaft where he and Helen were now in.

"Come on!" Helen called up to him.

Worriedly he glanced around and saw while Atox free, green droplets were already sliding their way slowly through the miniscule gaps. Groaning inwardly he began climbing down the cables which thankfully were easy to get a grip on despite his uncharacteristically sweaty palms, despite this he was grateful they weren't nearer to the upper levels which would have been more of a climb. It still gave him the opportunity to catch his breath some, he actually felt terrified yet exhilarated at the same time. He had almost forgotten how exciting it was to be in the throw of things with Helen, although the fact that everyone was either dead or dying ruined the feeling slightly but not completely, the adrenaline probably helped.

Helen reached the bottom but no sooner had her feet touched the ground did the Atox force open the door he had closed and spill screeching down, jolted by surprised he lost his grip and fell the rest of the way landing on top of Helen who broke his fall.

"I always wondered what this moment would be like," he told her unable to resist the opportunity even as she glared at him.

"Focus!" she snapped and he rolled off of her and helped her to her feet while dodging the falling Atox, already beginning to form into creatures.

He waved open the door and the ran in before he slammed it mentally shut again, Helen wasted no time in running to the center and immediately began tapping away at the computer while he opted to survey the area carefully which thankfully was not yet occupied by any Atox despite this however as he made his way around and peered into the glass he saw nothing but corpses with even the mermaid who's name he forgot, was floating lifelessly before him.

"Sherlock and wolfboy to Magnus and the magnet, do you read me?" Henry's voice crackled over the radio, "did you guys make it?"

"Yes Henry," Helen confirmed snatching it up, "we made it."


	7. Chapter 7

_Thanks so much to melissaadams22 and big fan for reviewing  
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><p>"We spoke to the mayor," Henry explained over the radio, "and now they're evacuating the city."<p>

"Great work," Helen complimented them proudly, "I'm sending messages to the Sanctuary heads calling for an emergency meeting right now, hopefully before it comes in here."

Nikola's attention dwindled and he wandered back to look into the cells, rooms, whatever they were called. In a few the Atox was already oozing its way inside from the back, he paused in front of the one with the most goo, watching in amazement as it slid onto the dead abnormal's body until it was completely covered then the outline of the body smoothed out until it was just another part of the mass of sickly green. It was so horrifically fascinating to him before abruptly it slammed against the glass, he yelped and jumped backwards while the Atox pressed into the glass, staring at him with its unblinkingly unnerving eyes while licking the glass with its dripping tongue. In response he mentally slammed down the metal door outside the glass which he proceeded to do to all of them, at best it helped stop it from coming in for awhile and at worst at least he didn't have to look at it.

"Doc..." Henry's voice crackled in different more frightened tone, "its Will... he... he's not breathing anymore, he's not breathing."

"He's dead," Helen whispered sadly closing her eyes for a second and taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," Nikola offered for lack of anything better.

"It's okay," she told him wistfully, "its not your fault I didn't listen to you. If anything I'm the one who's sorry, my actions compromised and killed everyone I tried so hard to protect. I'm sorry Nikola."

"You have nothing to apologize for," he told her firmly.

"Err... hey guys? Anyone there?" Henry questioned panicked, "its coming through! It's coming! Oh man this is it, you were the best Magnus and err..."

"Henry?" Helen called desperately down into the radio as it went silent, "Henry? Henry? Can you hear me? Henry! Dammit!"

With that she angrily threw down the radio as it smashed onto the ground, breaking into pieces. Neither of them felt like voicing it but Henry was almost certainly dead, just like all the others. Nikola sighed heavily while Helen almost robotically went back to tapping away at the computer, he just stared at the ground as it truly dawned on him the mortality of their situation, they were as dead as the rest of them. Abruptly anger shot through him, he wasn't going to just give up and die no matter how hopeless the situation was.

"There," Helen muttered moving her hands away from the keyboard briefly, "I've just emailed the other heads of house all the information we have about the situation for them to deal with, although with any luck they won't have to."

"What do you mean by that?" Nikola asked curiously to which she sighed before turning to face him.

"Not long after Ashley died I went looking for a cure for my longevity," she explained, "but what I found was... shocking and after I got back I decided that I had to prepare in case something like that ever happened. I built a self destruct system into this Sanctuary."

"What?" he questioned raising a confused eyebrow at how unlike Helen that sounded, "I never heard about a self destruct."

"I never told anyone," she informed him deadpan, "not Kate, not Biggie, not Will, not even Henry. I built it into the system myself and it can only be activated by me in the direst of circumstances."

"You're going to blow this place up," he summarized still wrapping his head around it.

"Yes," she confirmed, "and with any luck we can take this thing with us."

"With us?" he repeated worriedly.

"I designed it so that if my Sanctuary dies than I die with it," Helen told him, "we're going to die anyway so it might as well be this way."

"No," Nikola said firmly, "we're not dead yet, we're not dead until we say die."

"How do you expect us to get out of here anyway?" Helen demanded angrily, "that thing is everywhere, we barely made it here let alone all the way to the exit."

"Where's John when you need him?" Nikola muttered rhetorically before noticing Adam's device still attached to his wrist which he held up to show her, "we can use this to escape, set this place to blow and then get out of here. We could even go back in time, figure out a way to stop the Atox before it kills everyone."

"I already told you," Helen told him frustratedly, "we don't know how to use it and even if we were to guess, we don't have a power source for it."

"I can be the power source!" Nikola yelled.

"You're not a vampire anymore!" Helen retorted.

"No but..." he began before sighing and continuing in a calmer tone, "when I set fire to your lab, I was trying to get my powers back. My DNA was only altered by the devamper and I was trying to alter it back, without using source blood. It was working Helen, my electrical powers were coming back which was why I got overexcited, juiced it too much and it caught on fire."

"It worked?" Helen whispered aloud, "why didn't you tell me?"

"You were kind of mad at me," he shrugged looking away, "besides it didn't work completely, I'm still not a vampire and I'm still a magnet... but I have control over electricity, I can generate the power needed for the device."

"Okay," Helen agreed hesitantly after a minute, "after I activate the self destruct, we have 10 seconds for you to use the device to teleport us out of here and onto the street so we can see if it worked."

"Okay," Nikola affirmed smiling at her slightly as she turned back to the computer.

"Activation code: ," Helen stated clearly while he took a moment to study the device.

_10..._

All around the screeching echoed as the Atox burst from all the exits he had so carefully closed.

_9..._

"Any second now!" Helen called panicked.

_8..._

Having absolutely no idea how it worked he simply infused with some energy making it glow blue.

_7..._

Everywhere the Atox was forming into creatures, some hanging off walls, some hanging off the ceiling.

_6..._

He turned over his wrist looking for some way to specify location.

_5..._

Frowning he tapped it a few times with his finger but nothing happened.

_4..._

"I don't suppose you read the instruction manual?" Nikola asked of her.

_3..._

Helen shook her head blankly.

_2..._

"Just try focusing," Helen shrugged sighing as she glanced around them.

_1..._

The solidified grotesque green Atox creatures now lunged at them.

_0..._

Nikola squeezed his eyes shut and focused on the street outside, he grabbed Helen and simply jumped.

He could feel scorching heat in the air before he felt like he was falling, falling with all of his strength being violently pulled out of him and he couldn't breath for a minute. Abruptly he felt himself colliding with solid ground and much needed air came flooding back into his lungs, he gasped a few times, swallowing down the wonderfully refreshing yet bitterly cold air. His body hurt, every last inch felt like someone was jabbing him with thousands of tiny needles.

His strength felt sapped completely, even opening his eyelids felt like too much of a task for his exhausted body let alone moving or calling out for Helen who he had let go of at some point. If he wasn't so tired he would have been worried about her but even staying conscious was too much of a challenge, thinking was so hard it made his head hurt. Sleep on the other hand was blissfully easy and pain free.


	8. Chapter 8

_Thanks so much to melissaadams22 for reviewing! And yes I do have a solution other than everyone dying, don't panic :)  
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><p>Distant screams pestered him back into consciousness, they grated on his ears along with the seemingly continuous sirens blasting away from somewhere. He groaned inwardly, silently cursing how loud humans were when he was trying to sleep. On a more positive note some of his strength had returned and no longer felt like a pin cushion, much to his relief as the memories came back to him.<p>

Nikola blinked a few times and found himself staring at what he assumed used to be the Sanctuary, smoking piles of rubble were strewn everywhere that he could see accompanied by the odd shard of glass. Judging by the dusk he had been unconscious for awhile, the crimson sky was actually a fitting backdrop for whatever chaos everyone was screaming about, it looked like someone had painted it in blood. He flicked his gaze to the street where achingly familiar sickly pools of green welled around, he could see a little girl crying as the Atox engulfed what he assumed was her mother. He closed his eyes, he didn't want to see what happened.

Failure never sat well with him, especially when he was absolutely clueless on how to stop something like that which didn't sit well with him either but at least as a consolation they'd lived to fight another day. Suddenly frantic he opened his eyes again and scanned around for Helen, relief greeted him as he saw her a few feet away from him, face down and seemingly unconscious.

"Helen?" he rasped weakly as he crawled towards her, he stopped closer to her and reached out to hold her wrist to gently shake her awake, "Helen? Helen?"

He stopped for a minute, with a horrible lurch of his heart he noticed blood matted into her hair beside a lump of rock stained crimson. He knelt beside her and ever so carefully rolled her onto her back, she still didn't react but he knew she couldn't. Her once blue eyes were now glazed over and glassy, no longer able to see, never again. A choked sob escaped him as he awkwardly cradled her in his arms, probably the only person left on the planet he care about and she was dead.

For a minute he simply held her close, it seemed so incredibly cruel to him that after his crazy plan had actually worked that she should die from simply hitting her head, the sad irony was that she had died along with her Sanctuary after all, along with everyone in it. Except him. Shakily he reached out to close her eyes, a simple gesture but made her look so much more serene and calm like she was sleeping, he half wished she was and that she'd suddenly demand to know what he was doing when they should be thinking of a way to stop this. His gaze stopped on the device on his wrist, theoretically it was supposed to be able to travel through time. He could stop this, all of this from happening and save her, save them all.

"I'll stop this Helen," he promised her brushing a strand of hair from her eyes, "I give you my word."

Ever so gently he lay her down on the ground and awkwardly staggered to his feet, his legs protesting having to stand when he felt so tired despite having been asleep for awhile. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, he had to power the device with his own energy after all and to travel through space and time had to need a lot of energy. He swallowed nervously wondering whether it was wise to use the device so soon but decided there was no point in waiting considering he was already dying from the Atox, besides precaution really wasn't his thing.

He focused again channeling his energy into the device, focusing on the past. He closed his eyes and concentrated intensely willing to work as he energized the device, he could feel it sapping his strength, feel it ebbing away, draining from him like liquid spilled from a glass. It was all he could do to stay on his feet, abruptly he felt his body lurch forward and he screamed silently in the long-lasting seconds where he felt again like he was being jabbed at by billions of needles, even worse like they were tearing him apart. Then it stopped and he fell against some solid surface, shakily leaning against it to stop himself from collapsing as he tried to breath through the pain.

"I need a drink," he heard a voice say from nearby that sounded curiously alike his own and if not so fatigued he would have turned to investigate who had spoken but receding footsteps indicated the speaker was leaving and he didn't feel up to chasing them.

"Are you alright?" another voice asked.

"Do I look like I'm alright?" he snapped in a sharper tone then he intended.

"Not really," the speaker replied and he glanced up to see Big Guy was the one speaking, he gaped at him for a moment.

"It worked," Nikola muttered in amazement as he turned to put his back to the wall to get a better view of the Sanctuary hall, intact and Atox free, "I can't believe it actually worked. Am I a genius or what?"

"What," Big Guy grunted frowning at him, "did you set fire to Helen's lab again?"

"What?" Nikola questioned in confusion before it dawned on him that obviously none of the others knew about the future, "no, we have bigger concerns. Is Helen back from her trip to capture the hyphodon yet?"

"Yes," he confirmed and Nikola cursed silently.

"I should go back further," Nikola announced inwardly wincing at the discomfort of the time traveling process, "see you a few minutes ago."

Before he could change his mind he energized the device again, focusing on going further back in time only instead of gradually building up its power he used it all at once, immediately jolting forwards as the achingly familiar sense of pain stabbed at him before he came to a sudden halt in the middle of a corridor, to his amazement right in front of him he could see himself and Helen.

"-You're a selfish arrogant bastard Nikola!" Helen was yelling.

"Little on the harsh side, don't you think?" he asked of her curiously as the shocked faces turned to him, he realized that if he was correct in where he was now then he hadn't gone back much further than before but he didn't feel up to trying again, he didn't even feel up to standing and found himself collapsing backwards onto the ground as he tried to stay awake, "I think this is far enough..."


End file.
